4A - Wednesday, September 29, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com E-MAIL CHRISTINA AT CHSUH@UMICH.EDU I~C ligan 4alhj Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu CHRISTINA SUH JACOB SMILOVITZ EDITOR IN CHIEF RACHEL VAN GILDER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MATT AARONSON MANAGING EDITOR ikBorae r Think Blue for prostate cancer Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent Solely the views of their authors. Give us Google instantly Ann Arbor is the right testing city for Google Fiber The race to be one of Google Fiber's pilot sites has inspired a lot of excitement in Cities vying for the new Internet service. Ann Arbor - which has yet to change its name for the cause, unlike Topeka, Kansas - is still in the running to receive this ultra-high-speed Internet. Google Fiber would pro- vide fiber-to-home network that is said to run 100 times faster than most Internet services currently available. Bringing Google Fiber to Ann Arbor would have huge benefits for students, the University and the city as a whole. The community should con- tinue its enthusiasm, and Google should see that Ann Arbor is the right city to test Google Fiber. *I According to the Sept. 12 article in the Daily, Ann Arbor currently ranks fourth in community support levels for the effort to attract Google Fiber. Another Michigan city in the running is Grand Rapids, which currently ranks second. These rankings, which come from fiberforall.org, mea- sure community support by way of social media websites, tracking statistics such as Facebook group members and Twitter followers. There is currently no informa- tion regarding whether these rankings will impact Google's choice for a pilot city. Google has said that it will announce which cities it has selected to test the new fiber- optic Internet service by the end of 2010. As a research university, the University of Michigan would benefit greatly from an opportunity like this one. Faster Internet would mean easier access to data and infor- mation, something that would benefit almost every program at the University. Google would also benefit by testing the network in a city full of innovative and knowledgeable researchers, students and businesses. The University would certainly benefit from Google Fiber - researchers and stu- dents would have access to more informa- tion at a faster rate. Google Fiber would be a particularly valuable asset to Univer- sity Health Service by providing faster and easier access to health records. With such a large student body and community rely- ing on UHS, faster access to records would make this important resource function even more efficiently. And Google already has roots in Ann Arbor. Its AdWords is headquartered downtown and one of its co-founders is a University graduate. Piloting Google Fiber in a city that the company is already tied to would ensure easy functioning and easy access to data for Google - benefits that other cities can't offer. This win-win situation would facilitate a more accurate and simple testing process. And with high levels of community support, Google can be sure that residents would be ready and willing to help the company with its efforts to study and improve Google Fiber. Ann Arbor has more to offer in terms of community support and testability qualities than other nominees, making it uniquely qualified to serve as a pilot city for Google Fiber. The University and its surrounding community remain depen- dent on high-quality Internet access for student work, research and health servic- es. With advantages like these, there's no need for Ann Arbor to change its name to prove that it's top in the running to become Google Fiber's test city. Blue - yes, it's a color. But it's also a very important color. Especially today - except I'm not goingto tell you why just yet. Do you remem- ber that Facebook meme from a few months ago, in which women all across America began posting s their bra color as their status to sup- port breast can- - cer awareness? I ERIC believe the mes- sage they were SZKARLAT spreading around read something along the lines of, "Postyour bra color in your status and leave the boys to wonder what it means!" So it was essentially a secret girls' club. What's unfortunately left out of these messages is that men can also contract breast cancer. It's a statis- tical rarity, but there are usually a couple thousand per year in the Unit- ed States. And because of failure in detection, death rates are much high- er among male breast cancer patients. That said, the biggest risk fac- tor for breast cancer is wheth- er you are male or female. Obvi- i ously, women contract it at a much higher- rate. But I won- der why we left boys and men to wonder what the colors mean since they can still contract breast cancer? In her arti- cle on Politic- sDaily.com, writer Donna - 50 Trussell wrote, b * "My Bra? Color Me Furious." Throughout her article, Trussell writes about how many breast cancer survivors are no longer wearing bras of any color, so the entire Facebook status move- ment was insensitive. She raises good questions about ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer, such as why they aren't touted so loudly as breast cancer when their death rates well exceed those of breast cancer. But while I enjoyed much of her article, Trussell's last line strikes me as insensitive. Referencing such campaigns and slogans as "Save the Ta-tas," she says: "Never mind the breasts. Save the women." Does this somehow imply that sav- ing women is somehow more impor- tant than saving men? I'm all for saving women's lives by eradicating cancer, but that's a consequence of something else: I'm all for saving peo- ple. I'm all for finding cures for breast cancer and ovarian cancer, for the reason that I am all for finding cures for all types of cancer. Some degree of specificity toward a particular cause is perfectly fine, but a disproportion- ate amount of support for one cause frustrates me. It especially frustrates me when the reason given seems to be what I would call gender protective preference, that is, a stronger impulse to save one gender rather than anoth- er. It is a manifestation of sexism. Here are some numbers for you: The American Cancer Society esti- mates that 217,730 new cases of pros- tate cancer will emerge in 2010. They estimate that 207,090 new cases of 0044 is7 fi,- cro . Bra (brashC rte ClnLc G Illustration by Ma breast cancer will emerge in the same year. Prostate and breast cancers are the second leading causes of cancer- related death in men and women respectively, after lung cancer, which is first for both sexes. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation lists over 100 races to fundraise for breast cancer research. ZERO, The Project to End Prostate Cancer, lists only14 races forprostate cancer fundraising and awareness. Had you even heard of The ZERO Project before now? I hadn't until I started researching to write this col- umn. Not even 2,000 people "like" it on Facebook. Barely 2,000 people have liked "Prostate Cancer Aware- ness." As for "Breast Cancer Aware- ness"? Almost 1.5 million "likes." Almost 50,000 like "A World With- out Breast Cancer," and more than 6 million have joined the cause "Turn Facebook Pink for 1 Week for Breast Cancer Awareness." Six million strong against breast cancer - it sounds amazing. But I admit that I am jealous. Why the dis- proportionate inequity? Why aren't we more aware about the cancers that are killing our fathers, grandfathers, brothers and uncles? Are they simply less marketable? I've seen the effects of breast can- cer. I've seen lives and families funda- mentallyalteredbythe lossofaparent to breast cancer. But I've also seen the damage prostate cancer can do. I've lost family members to prostate can- cer because they weren't aware until it was too late. I am in favor of putting an end to both. I would be joyous if one were cured and n , inconceivably blissful if both were cured. If you didn't know, Septem- ber is Prostate Cancer Aware- ness Month. And blue is the hr. re.. 's 5 'e. color of prostate '.0 m50 e'&e cancer aware- * P -e.. cw0cer'ness. I know it's almost over, but maybe for these last two days you could do something dalyn Hochendoner as simple as wearing a blue ribbon, armband or - dare I say it - some blue underpants to show your support of prostate cancer awareness. Then you can bust out the pink for October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But for now, Think Blue. - Eric Szkarlat can be reached at eszkarla@umich.edu. W LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. ERIKA MAYER | Uniquely 'U' Unlike many of my friends with University of Michigan legacies, there are no alumni in my family. My parents went to Central Michigan University and my aunts and uncles went either there or to Purdue. But other than the fact that my Boilermaker relatives can be a little over- whelming at times, there's no family loyalty to a particular university. On top of that, I didn't really grow up in Michigan, so when the time came to think about colleges, the University of Michigan was just another university. I cheered for the football team, but in comparison to real fans I was tragically lukewarm. When I started touring schools, I realized something was different here at the University. At every school I visited, students wore sweat- shirts with the school's logo - even the Yale Bulldogs deigned to pull one over their button- downs - but at the University of Michigan there was something a little different in the wearer's attitude. My friends and I joke now that you can wear whatever you want as long as it has the Block 'M' on it. Everyone is excited tobe a Michi- gan student, even on a cold, rainy morning. The Michigan attitude of loving the school, the institution and the community struck home for me. My parents, mentally calculat- ing the difference between in-state tuition with an Ivy League education, encouraged this by watching Michigan football and taking me to a game. I still think they bribed my friends to buy me a Michigan teddy bear for my 18th birthday. They may have had ulterior motives, but their strategy was grounded in something I had seen myself - at Michigan I would get much more than an education. Most students vaguely understand that making connections and "opening doors" (whatever that means) is important for the future. Usually, it's a fancy name attached like Harvard or Columbia. But while Harvard has around 20,000 students each year, the Uni- versity has more than twice that many. Which means - and I'll leave the calculations up to the math geniuses in East Hall - there are a lot more Wolverines out there than, um, Crim- sons. And we have a better football team. All of the silly tangible benefits of a good edu- cation and a job and a future aside, Michigan stands out because it creates a community that unites complete strangers - even in foreign countries. In the same day, a few fellow Wolver- ines and I cheered "Go Blue!" at a stranger on a street in London who happened to be wearing a Michigan Law t-shirt and reminisced over living in Ann Arbor with a man wearing a University rock-climbing shirt in Edinburgh. It says something about the University that two weeks ago I was sitting in a Buffalo Wild Wings hours from Ann Arbor with the water ski team, next to a wedding party that made a pit- stop between the wedding and reception, watch- ing the guy who sat next to me in class two days earlier run over 300 yards with his shoes untied. It's the same connection that made a friend of mine creepily snap a picture of a man in a Michi- gan hat on a ferryboat in Seattle. Whether the connection is forged in the stu- dent section at football games, over the long, cold walk to classes in the winter or on the late-night drunken bus ride back to North Campus, there's something that bonds students and alumni of the University in a way I haven't seen at other colleges. It's more than just school spirit, more than maize and blue face paint and nail polish, more than accumulating a ridiculous amount of yellow t-shirts, more than the knowledge that we really are the Leaders and the Best. It's somethingthatbecomes a part of the students, a part that never changes, a part that has alumni still standing for "The Victors" decades after they've graduated. The Michigan Difference isn't some fundraising scheme brainstormed by the administration, it's what happens when you become a part of the Michigan family. When people ask me why I chose Michigan, a question I seem to hear a lot lately, I try to give them a full answer. It's a great school and I get to pay in-state tuition. And that's true, butI stayed at Michiganbecause it's a way of life. Erika Mayer is an LSA junior. They, too, si ngAmerica think it's rather fitting that the fate of the DREAM Act, which offers a path for the children of illegal immigrants to become citizens if they graduate from a U.S. high school and then complete two years of a four-year uni- versity or serve at least two years in the military, and the repeal of the NOEL "don't ask, don't GORDON tell" policy, which would allow mem- bers of the LGBTQ community to openly serve in the mil- itary, were essentially woven together in a recent defense appropriations bill that failed in the U.S. Senate. But not everyone agrees with me. LGBTQ advocates were enraged by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to include both provi- sions in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act because doing so essentially guaranteed the bill's fail- ure. Some Democrats felt that the two policies should have been debated independently of one another. Some Republicans felt that the two policies shouldn't have been debated at all. But if you look closely enough, you'll soon realize that each of these opinions rests upon the same faulty assumption - namely, that gay rights and immigrant rights are mutually exclusive. Consider thatcfor boththese groups, each day brings the possibility that it could mark the beginning of the end. A woman who accidentally reveals the identity of her female partner could be dishonorably discharged the same day a high school senior is deported back to his "home" country. Though seem- ingly incongruent, these two scenari- os are not all that different from one another. Both tell the story of honest,, hard-working individuals reduced to nothing more than a single aspect of their identities. But apparently noth- ing else matters - not even twenty years of decorated military service or eighteen years of impressive work ethic. Because in the eyes of the fed- eral government, sexual orientation has long been indicative of military aptitude much in the way legal immi- gration status has been indicative of a person's right to learn. Much like Coretta Scott King, I believe that "we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny... I can never be what I ought tobe until you are allowed to be what you ought to be." It's important to realize that the validation ofone minority group rests heavily upon on the validation of another. So while I would have loved for the U.S. Senate to have instated the DREAM Act and repealed "don't ask, don't tell," I fail to see the point in blaming another group of victims. This does nothing to advance the fight for social justice. Instead of point- ing fingers at one another, advocates from both sides should be working together to end all forms of institu- tional inequality. Because when it comes down to it, these groups have similar stories to tell. If you don't believe me, read the testimony of the following two people. The first is from a Romanian student currently living here in the United States. He's been here his entire life but is still facing deportation over a problem he didn't even know exist- ed. The other is from a queer young woman currently training to serve in the armed forces. Though she loves her country, she's been forced to keep her sexuality a secret. My Romanian friend said to me in an e-mail, "I came to the United States of America when I was 5 years old. I didn't come here illegally, nor did I hop any borders. I wasn't smug- gled in or paid an excess amount of money to get in. I lived my life learn- ing the American way. Aside from being Romanian, I had become the 'All-American Boy.' But shortly after graduating, I received a letter saying that I would have to return to Roma- nia because my visa had expired. The DREAM Act is a way for me to stay in the United States without havingto go back to a country that I haven't been to in 15 years. We are Americans too. Grant us the same rights and we will not falter. " Minority groups share common interests in liberty. Similarly, my female friend explained, "I love my country. That's why I decided to sign up for the mili- tary. I believe in the American Dream and I'm willing to put my life on the line to protect it. SoI don't understand why being gay should stop me from doing that. I didn't ask to be gay, but I definitely wouldn't change it. Repeal- ing don't ask, don't tell is my only chance at feeling like I truly belong here. I'm just as much an American as any straightguy or girl out there. That doesn't change no matter what." They, too, sing America. - Noel Gordon can be reached at noelaug@umich.edu. 01 0 0 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Jordan Birnholtz, Adrianna Bojrab, Will Butler, Eaghan Davis, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Will Grundler, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Tommaso Pavone, Leah Potkin, Asa Smith, Laura Veith .